novelraw Chapter 76
Chapter 76
Su Wangchuan refused to give up.
He raised the bow with his left hand and pulled the string with his right.
The specially tanned oxhide bowstring barely opened a little before locking in place. No matter how hard he tried, he could not draw it any farther.
He tried several times in succession, with the same result each time.
Su Wangchuan exerted all of his strength, panting heavily from exhaustion, yet he still could not fully draw the bow.
Only then did Qian Sihai realize that the Room Master intended to use the iron-reinforced bow himself. He could not help but speak up in reminder.
“Room Master, this iron-reinforced bow is a weapon specifically prepared for ranked martial artists. You haven’t yet become a martial artist, so you can’t draw it.”
Su Wangchuan set the iron-reinforced bow down and slowly regulated his breathing, nodding.
“Worthy of being an iron-reinforced bow. I’ve learned my lesson.”
He changed the subject to ease the awkwardness.“What price does an iron-reinforced bow usually sell for on the market?”
Chen Ergou chimed in from the side.
“Room Master, I know this. Last year, someone came to Huishui County selling an iron-reinforced bow. He asked for thirty taels of silver. It seems it was bought by a ranked martial artist here in Huishui County.”
Qian Sihai nodded.
“This iron-reinforced bow uses three Hundredfold Steel ingots, with a small piece of brass mixed in. The cost of the bow body alone is around nine taels. This oxhide string costs about two taels. Including material loss and labor, the total cost is at least eighteen taels. Selling it for thirty taels isn’t considered expensive.”
Su Wangchuan nodded, then asked Qian Sihai,
“Is there any other kind of bow that’s stronger than the ordinary wooden bows and hunting bows we usually use, but slightly inferior to an iron-reinforced bow?”
“There is!”
Chen Ergou answered again before anyone else.
“Room Master, bows made from walnut wood or white ash are actually very strong. They’re harder to draw than ordinary wooden or hunting bows and can shoot much farther. Our warehouse has a batch of reserve lumber that’s already been treated against insects and moisture. It can be used to make bows at any time.”
“How do you know so much about this, Ergou?”
Only then did Su Wangchuan realize that Chen Ergou’s knowledge of bows far exceeded that of an ordinary worker.
Chen Ergou laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
“Before joining the gang, I used to be a carpenter in my village. I also hunted for a few years, and I’ve made wooden bows from all kinds of materials.”
“Oh?”
Su Wangchuan looked surprised.
He had not expected Chen Ergou to be a carpenter.
“Alright!”
“Ergou, go fetch the materials and make me a wooden bow. I want one that’s a bit easier to draw than an iron-reinforced bow… The main requirements are strength, long range, and stability.”
One of the main features of Hundred Paces Piercing the Poplar was long range and precision. With a good wooden bow, he could start training and break through quickly.
“Got it!”
Chen Ergou had been worrying about how to repay the Room Master. Upon hearing this, he immediately ran to the warehouse, fetched a piece of walnut wood along with various bow-making tools, and began working in earnest.
Making a wooden bow was no easier than blacksmithing.
Not only did it require planing the wood and understanding its grain, it also demanded knowledge of how to make the bow tougher and more resilient.
Once the bow had taken shape, Chen Ergou found an unknown liquid, placed the bow inside it, pressed it down with something heavy, and completely submerged it.
He explained to Su Wangchuan,
“Don’t be fooled by how tough these wooden bows look. After repeated drawing, they’re prone to breaking. They need to be softened with warm water and heat to increase their flexibility, so they can last longer.”
“After that comes oiling, to improve the feel and strengthen the surface…”
“The whole process takes about two days.”
Chen Ergou explained everything in great detail.
Su Wangchuan guessed that if he asked any further, Ergou might be able to teach him how to become a carpenter himself.
He had no interest in learning carpentry.
He understood the principle of biting off more than one could chew.
His Hundredfold Steel Forging Technique was already stuck at Entry-Level Mastery, and it was extremely difficult to push it to Integration. Learning carpentry skills would be useless.
After instructing Chen Ergou to carefully craft the walnut bow, Su Wangchuan headed to the training grounds.
He was going to seriously cultivate Lightfoot on Grass and train his movement technique.
From Brother Lin Xun, he had already learned the shortcut to training Lightfoot on Grass.
Wall-climbing.
That was it.
Commonly known as running along walls and eaves.
As long as one mastered the lifting and leaping technique and reached Practice Makes Perfect, this movement art could be considered successfully cultivated.
In the Weapon Room, he had already familiarized himself with the breathing rhythm and footwork principles of Lightfoot on Grass and understood how the two complemented each other.
Taking advantage of the empty training grounds, he finally had the chance to fully unleash his speed and sprint continuously.
Huu…
Inhale…
Su Wangchuan expelled a deep breath of turbid air, then shot forward.
Even at the Entry-Level stage, Lightfoot on Grass stirred a faint current of air from the ground.
With his robes fluttering, he dashed forward at a speed surpassing a hundred-meter sprint.
The training grounds were no more than fifty meters in length and width.
Ahead stood the iron dummy stakes.
Su Wangchuan held his breath and focused, mobilizing his strength in advance. It felt as if springs were beneath his feet. With a slight compression, his body leapt into the air. He stepped on the arm of an iron dummy stake and landed lightly on the ground.
Success!
Su Wangchuan’s eyes lit up.
While running, he had effortlessly cleared an obstacle nearly the height of an adult.
Lightfoot on Grass was indeed effective.
It seemed that even a hundred-meter hurdle would no longer stop him.
However, after landing, his breathing became slightly disordered. His speed dropped noticeably, and the spring-like feeling under his feet disappeared.
Su Wangchuan quickly calmed his mind and resumed following the breathing circulation method of Lightfoot on Grass, coordinating his inhalation and exhalation while rhythmically moving his legs.
The feeling returned.
Speed increased.
The spring-like sensation in his legs came back.
Su Wangchuan smiled.
Continue!
He sprinted another lap around the training grounds. Once he found the rhythm again, he charged toward the next iron dummy stake.
A light lift.
A clean vault.
At this moment, if there had been an observer watching him clear the iron dummy stake, they would have found the entire process incredibly smooth, like a genuine martial artist displaying real lightness skill.
Su Wangchuan was completely immersed.
His legs moved rhythmically, maintaining the breathing cadence. His qi circulated throughout his body, giving him the sensation of lightly strolling on the moon.
“So this is lightness skill.”
“Truly marvelous.”
“Unfortunately…”
“At present, the lifting height is only a bit over one meter. I still can’t climb walls.”
“I’ll have to wait until Minor Mastery to borrow force and scale walls.”
After countless sprints and leaps in the training grounds, he summoned his Status Panel to check. Sure enough, the experience value for Lightfoot on Grass at the bottom had increased by two points.
That’s right.
After training for so long, it had only increased by two points.
Progress: 2/100.
Su Wangchuan nearly lost heart.
Fortunately, he understood the importance of movement techniques to a martial artist.
Slow was slow, then…
He would endure it.
Continue!
Su Wangchuan gritted his teeth and pressed on.
After leaping and bounding alone in the training grounds for nearly half an hour, he was utterly exhausted. His Hunger dropped below forty. Only then did he drag his heavy legs out of the hall and head to the docks to buy meat buns.
He stuffed down five meat buns in one go, yet his stamina still did not recover. He could only log out and rest.
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